How to Add Points to Your Child's Gymnastics Score

All parents who have kids in gymnastics want to know one thing: how to improve their child's gymnastics score. I'm going to give you a couple of tips that you can help your child practice to improve their score. Maybe you are wondering how the gymnastics judges come up with the scores, and hopefully this article will shed some light on the issue.

Tips to Improve Your Gymnastics Score

Keep your legs straight and point your toes.- Each time your legs bend you can get up to .3 off your score. Each skill performed with flexed feet can get .05 off your score. These deductions add up, so keeping your legs straight and toes pointed will keep you from earning these deductions!

Keep your arms straight.- This tip is important on bars. Each time the gymnast performs a skill on bars with bent arms, up to .3 can be deducted. If the gymnast performs 8 bar skills with bent arms that is 2.4 points that can be deducted!

Don't fall.- This tip is important on beam. Each time you fall there is a .5 deduction. If you fall twice in a beam routine your score is reduced by 1 point! Practice staying on the beam during your routine to improve your score.

Stick your landing.- This tip is important on vault, bars and beam. For every step you take after you land your dismount on bars and beam, or after you land your vault a deduction of .1 is applied, up to .4. These steps on landing can add up and impact your all-around score. So stick your landing and keep those tenths!

Smile!- If you smile and look like you are having fun, the judge will enjoy your routine more and have a better perspective of it. Also, judges evaluate each routine in the category of Artistry. By not smiling, the gymnast can earn a deduction of .1 in the Artistry category, "Quality of Expression'. This is an easy tip to nail, so Smile and have fun!

Deductions add up. Especially if you consider that bent legs on all four events leads to four times as many deductions. By fixing this one thing, you will raise your score on all four events and increase your all-around score! By practicing each of these tips you will be able to improve your gymnastics score and maybe move to the next gymnastics level. Good Luck!